Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-02-22

/ "Rut IN The meantime, dear,f murmurt
the wife
'1n the meantime we will sell q pict
ure ~
But they didn't and things rapidly grew
worse. At last they had to give up tn,
little fiat, and a portion Of the studio was
curtained and screened off for living pur
poses. II was marvellous how little
such things affected the young man They
had to sell some of the furniture of the
fiat. The wife saw il 60 off to q second
hand dealer with a great pain at her heart
and tears starting TO her eyes. The hus-
band seemed To treat the matter with alb
solute hippancy He Cidn't mean to- but
his thoughts were so engaged with the
picture on which he vas working that all
this seemed of very little importance He
gave her the paltry little money arising
from the sale with tie remark:
Now, pet, You can pay some Of those
bills and get yourself a new dress"
How little he knew about those bills:
how little he knew about the struggles o,
this little woman to make the few dollars
go as far as they would What did he
actually know of the planning which il
required TO secure the plain meals which
he ate without a question: These vert
the sordid things with which the Young
wife had to live day in and day out, and
these We're the miserable things which
with wOmanly loyalty and tenderness she
kept from him. She would not disturb
him at his work. He would soon sell a
picture and then everything would be oil
right Well, a picture was sold Their
debts were paid and they had a few dol
lars TO go on with. Then the months
passed and they slowly drifted back again
to where they were before And all the
time the pretty young wife was growing
thin and paler and careworu. Her eyes
had lost their merry sparkle, her hair was
no longer glossy, her full red lips were
drawn tightly as If in pain. Her wardrobe
had been slowly exhausted aud had been
cheaply replenished. WheIhsshe went to
an art reception now she appeared one Of
the most commonplace of young women.
with worn look in her eyes and a crushed
manner. She had struggled with poverty
and she bore the marks of the struggle
around with her
On such occasions her husband was
dressed quite as cheaply as she was. But
otherwise look at the difference between
them. He is erect and confident He
carries his head proudly. There is alert
in his glance. and he moves
about, the peer of any one in the room
He has lived with the creatures of his
own imagination. His mind has not been
stained and degraded with the grinding
of life This has been his
little wife fate. In order that he NAV
give his pictures to the world. she has
lived with an oil stove. with tin pans and
coffee pots. She has hagcled with the
butcher, put the bakers bill off, gotten
the coal on credit, and at the same time |
has made an entire costume for herself at
the expenditure of So And her hands |
are hard, her thoughts fly low She has |
not had the spirit to keep up with the |
world around her. She has even lost her /
interest in her husband 5 work. although |
her sympathy i'll it when they started was |
keen and strong, and he was indebted to |
her then for many valuable suggestions. |
And under such conditions their life flows .
on.
At last the fortune which sooner or
later, but usually later, comes TO every
good artist came to Smith. His pictures
began TO sell. Then the art dealers did !
,ome TO him He could sell everything
le painted. He was invited everywhere,
md with his wife handsomely dressed he
went everywhere, and Mrs. Murray Hill
ices her and says. as she looks through
ler gold eyeglasses across the drawing
'OOm:
What an excessively commonplace
ooking woman the wife of Mr.. Robinson
smith, the artist, is. | wonder how he
ver came To marry her? He is mag
liticent looking man. She is not at all
lis equal New York Mail and Express